


Maybe You Just Miss the Sun

by Nevanna



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Bullying, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, M/M, Missing Scene, Pre-Descendants (2015), Victim Blaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22282054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevanna/pseuds/Nevanna
Summary: Jay's friends help him to see more clearly.
Relationships: Jay/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 6
Kudos: 97
Collections: Hurt/Comfort Bingo - Round 10





	Maybe You Just Miss the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> This fic fills the "dungeons" square for the Hurt/Comfort Bingo amnesty period. The title is from the song "Look Up" by Stars.

Jay was six years old the first time his father showed him the dungeon of some long-demolished fortress, after bartering a customer for the key and a guide to its defensive traps. “It’s no Cave of Wonders, but it has its share of little surprises. If I’d known what would happen when I rooted out that street rat from his cell,” Jafar sneered suddenly, “I would have made sure he rotted slowly in a place like this, and never saw sunlight again.”

“Doesn’t the Sultan make those laws?” Jay asked.

His father smirked. “I suppose it’s time for you to understand that the Sultan would have done whatever I told him.”

-

Jay was eight when his father locked him in that room - in that _hole_ \- for two hours, after he couldn’t pull off a successful theft. He was sobbing when Jafar worked the complicated locks and opened the door. Once Jay believed what he’d been told - that his confinement had been for his own good - he started to imagine that it might be a fun prank to play on some first-years.

Still, the next time he raided another shop, and the next, and the next, he was especially careful not to get caught.

-

Jay was nine when he stole several coils of wire and a sack of batteries from a classmate’s school bag. Carlos DeVil caught up with him in the hallway and demanded them back. “What do you even want with them?”

“What do _you_ want with them?” Jay shot back, forcing down the thrill of panic at being found out.

“I was gonna build a…” Carlos fumbled. “Something!”

“Well, I’m gonna make sure they get sold to people who can actually build _something_ , and aren’t pipsqueaks like you!” As he spoke, Jay was half convinced that steam was going to come out of Carlos’ ears. This kid sure was easy to rile up. The Gastons had made him cry last year by barking at him, which was pretty understandable if you knew who his mom was, although even Jay was surprised at their cruelty. Still, anyone who could come up with something like that on the spot was definitely on his way to acing his Weaponized Fear class.

-

Jay was twelve when he taught Maleficent’s daughter how to pick locks. It had been her idea, a way to get them a few more points on a class project. She wasn’t exactly patient, but she was stubborn, and refused to give up until she’d unlocked the most difficult puzzle-box in the shop. “Look at it this way,” she said, twirling a lock of purple hair around her finger. “Now I’ll owe you one.”

-

Jay was fifteen when his father locked him in the dungeon for a lot longer than two hours, after Jay let another customer slip through his fingers. His confinement was long enough that he had plenty of time to think about how he’d do it differently next time, when he wasn’t pissing in the corner, or telling himself that his hunger was no big deal, or trying to swallow down what definitely wasn’t resentment or fear toward his only parent. Long enough that he thought he was hearing things when the door ground open and warm arms pulled him to his feet: Mal on one side, Carlos on the other. Long enough that when they stepped outside, even the gray Isle daylight startled him. “How?” he managed. “Why?”

“I was researching the booby traps in this place,” Carlos explained quietly. “I wanted to see if they still unlock like they used to.”

“Nerd,” Mal grumbled. “ _Some_ locks can’t be undone with a puzzle or a code.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a lock-picking genius.”

“Had a good instructor.” She nudged Jay hard with her shoulder. “And now we’re even, right?”

-

Jay was seventeen when he heard from Agrabah again. He was sharing a picnic table with some of his classmates - he should probably start calling them _friends_ , or something - on the Auradon Prep campus: Lonnie, outlining her History of Magical Warfare essay; Carlos, fiddling with the binoculars he’d souped up; and Evie, sketching a _ridiculously_ sparkly dress in her notebook. “Mal needs something to wear when she and Ben meet with Princess Jasmine and her husband,” she explained.

Jay tensed. “Wait… Aladdin and Jasmine are coming here?”

“No, I think they’re traveling to the Sultan’s palace. Why?” Realization crossed Evie’s face. “Oh.”

“It’s cool.” Jay made a careless gesture with the hand that wasn’t holding his sandwich. “Mal and Carlos had to face their parents’ enemies.” If you could call Dude, who’d worn himself out chasing sticks and was now resting his head on his human companion’s thigh, an _enemy_. “I guess it’ll be my turn, whenever they decide to visit.”

Lonnie raised her head. “Jasmine and Aladdin are friends with my parents. I’ve known them for a long time, and I don’t think they’re the type to judge a kid for where he comes from.”

_When I rooted that street rat from his cell…_ “He tried to take over the kingdom and turn Jasmine into his love slave,” Jay retorted, standing up. “It’s not like he, I don’t know, locked them in a dungeon for disobeying.”

“Um, is the second thing any better?” Lonnie asked.

“If the person he’s locking in deserves it.” Jay pulled on his beanie, shoved his hands in his pockets, and started to walk away.

Carlos and the mutt caught up with him. “You didn’t,” Carlos said quietly. He must have mistaken Jay’s scowl for confusion, because he continued, “Deserve it, I mean. You know that, right? Maybe you’re still processing - I guess we all are - but...”

“‘Processing’?” Jay lengthened his stride. “Sorry, I don’t speak nerd.”

“We’re doing this now?” Carlos scoffed. “Really? Okay, you big lug, I’ll use one-syllable words: It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. Just like my mom’s lies weren’t mine.” He scratched Dude behind the ears. “All our parents made us believe things that weren’t true. And your dad was a total expert at it, even without his powers.” His face scrunched into the expression that he always gave when he was trying to figure out a difficult equation. “Maybe that’s why he did whatever he could to make other people feel powerless.”

“Look, I’m not…”

Carlos raised his face to make eye contact. “Not what?”

“Not some broken piece of junk for you to fix.”

Carlos rolled his eyes. “Trust me, I’ve got enough projects already. I don’t need another one.”

-

Jay had just turned eighteen when he kissed Carlos for the first time, after a long hike up the nearest mountain, under the widest, bluest sky he’d ever seen. 

**Author's Note:**

> Fondest thanks to Nu for introducing me for these movies, and to my NaNoWriMo buddies for listening to me read an early draft and responding favorably, despite mixed levels of familiarity with the source material. Virtual non-enchanted cookies to you all. <3


End file.
